Re: Best software for the Mac

I have just started collecting data and having entered basic details into the ancestry site I had decided that because of the inbuilt link with familytreemaker I would wait for v2 to hit the app store and take advantage of the free months included in the bundle. Having got fed up with waiting for release and reading some of the poor reviews, I decided to have another look at software options.I have now purchased MacFamily Tree (HALF PRICE on app store over Xmas) and I have to say that I am really impressed. Downloaded gedcom from site and was up and running straight away. The look and feel of the site is as you would expect from a slick Mac app. I am now free to use a stand alone app without having to pay subscriptions and can pick and choose where I get my data from and at what cost. Disappointed that the iOS apps aren't free, but they are also half price at the moment, so I guess I will take the iPad version. Hope this helps.

Re: Best software for the Mac

I have MacFamily Tree and it's nice, but it does have some cons. The biggest thorn in my side are the narrative reports and charts. If you want to add graphics to the background of your charts or have a report come out in a book narrative your somewhat out of luck. You can save the charts as a PNG or PDF file and then open them up in Photoshop or another simliar program and add your background that way. To me, that's a basic function of most programs if you presenting a chart as a gift. This was especially true for me.

They update the software pretty frequently, but they don't offer a group forum for their customers. They respond relatively quickly to issues, but keep an open mind to their responses as sometimes they read as insults.

The Pro App is nice, but understand if you should loose your data on your hard drive and not have a backup you can't sync the data from your iPad or iPhone to recover the file.

I'm trying to keep an open mind on the program and hope they create better report generator that allows you to better manipulate the data.